I have always felt that 8 years is a perfect length of time to be really really good friends with a group of people. So I will have them all open a tropical fish store in year 6, and in year 7, the fish store will accidentally receive a shark delivery, which they will jump, and in year 8, everyone will grow a beard and disintegrate in lava.

what is your obsession with this dying in lava thing... I always think of that conductor scene from Volcano, where he sacrifices himself by jumping into the lava and throwing the unconscious passenger he's carrying to safety while melting down.